Joshua 24:15

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15

I have to admit, I never heard these words until after I was married. I had no idea how my household would serve at all, and all that was on my mind was what mattered to me in an earthly sense. And then our first child was born.

I began to contemplate how I could be a better husband and father, and thought of hundreds of ways to improve myself! And then I set out to do it all at one time... and guess what happened???

I failed. The fatal flaw of flesh is frustrated failure in frivolous frontiers. (I am a fan of alliteration.)

And then I found myself feeling depressed and insignificant, thinking that there was no way I could ever make the changes needed in my life. I am, after all, only human. So I guess people are just going to have to accept me the way that I am. And if I decide to serve in a church, then I will do so. But if I don't, then so be it.

As I am certain you can imagine, this did not go so well for me. As I kept the world and my own selfish desires at the forefront of my thoughts, so did my wife. We did not, either separately or corporately, focus on where we should be serving or how to do it. And we received exactly what we put out... nothing.

Don't get me wrong, we weren't losing everything or homeless or hungry. We found many blessings in life, and chased after most things in our own power. We didn't give the glory to Him, and we patted ourselves and each other on the back over and over for all that we had accomplished. And we made it pretty far, if I do say so myself.

So I decided to let God have a crack at changing me, from the inside out. And, brothers and sisters let me tell you, it has been AWESOME!

We decided to turn our focus; and I cannot begin to describe the joy that has followed!!! We are serving in so many different ways now that it seems impossible to have a moment without the thought of serving God. And that is amazing to me! If only we had started on the right foot, we would probably be much further along than we currently are... but there's still time. God is now the center, and our relationship with Christ is the key to understanding our love for each other and our children.

I would say to you today that you should never be discouraged by the way things look right now. We did not start with God as our primary focus, but we got there. You can, too! That is why, as you pray tonight with your spouse, I urge you to read through this passage of Joshua 24 together. See the way they looked at service, and be blessed from their conviction! After all, once you've tried it in your own power and failed, what's wrong with letting the Creator of the universe take the wheel?

God bless you all!!!